This inspirational documentary is about a band of courageous civil-rights activists calling themselves the Freedom Riders. Gaining impressive access to influential figures on both sides of the issue, it chronicles a chapter of American history that stands as an astonishing testament to the accomplishment of youth and what can result from the incredible combination of personal conviction and the courage to organize against all odds.
In La noire de ..., Senegalese maid goes to the Riviera with her employers and gains a new perspective on what it means to be African outside of Africa. A story of exile and despair. Borom Sarret follows a cart driver as he meets an unfortunate array of people in Dakar..
In this Jamaican melodrama, single mother Marcia works as a street vendor to support her two daughters. However, she also needs the financial assistance of "Uncle" Larry, who demands repayments in the form of sex with Marcia's teen daughter Tanya. After Marcia's vending stall is threatened by brutal thug Priest, she devises a retaliatory plan. The dressmaker Mrs. Gordon sews a sexy costume so Marcia can compete for the cash prize in the Dancehall Queen contest. When no one recognizes her in this outfit, she uses the disguise to pit Priest and Larry against each other.
Set in Philadelphia. Cheryl is a 25 year old, black, lesbian film maker struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s, black film actress, popularly known as 'The Watermelon Woman.'
Devoted wife Ruby drops out of medical school after her husband Derek receives an eight-year prison sentence, and struggles to find the courage to remain faithful and supportive as the demands of being a prison wife weigh heavily on her shoulders.
Hushpuppy is a six-year-old living in an isolated bayou community. When her father Wink becomes ill, she sets off for the outside world in an attempt to help him. The journey to save her father is delayed by a 'busted' universe that reverses weather patterns and brings about long-extinct animals. Can Hushpuppy save the day?
Black colleges and universities are a haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries and have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. Examines the impact these institutions have had on American history, culture, and national identity.
Chronicles the life of Ida B. Wells, an early Afro-American journalist and activist who protested lynchings, the treatment of Afro-American soldiers, and other forms of racism and injustice toward black Americans around the turn of the century. Her involvement in the women's suffrage movement is also described.
Challenges one of America's most cherished assumptions, the belief that slavery in the United States ended with Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, by telling the harrowing story of how, in the South, a new system of involuntary servitude took its place with shocking force.
Explore with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed--forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds.
Chronicles the formation and battlefield heroics of the first all-black Union regiment, the Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry. Highlights of this documentary include archival daguerreotypes, tintypes, lithographs, and commentary by various historians.
A biography of Emmett Louis Till, an African-American teenager who was murdered for whistling at a white women in Mississippi in 1955. Chronicles director Beauchamp's decade-long effort to determine the true identities of Till's killers.
Using James Baldwin's unfinished final manuscript, Remember This House, this documentary follows the lives and successive assassinations of three of the author's friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., delving into the legacy of these iconic figures and narrating historic events using Baldwin's original words and a flood of rich archival material. An up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, this film is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter.
Taped live at the Supper Club in New York, Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry is hosted by popular rap artist Mos Def, and spotlights original material performed by contemporary urban poets and well-known music/comedy artists.
Seven new half-hour editions taped live at the Supper Club in New York, hosted by popular rap artist Mos Def. Spotlights original material performed by contemporary urban poets and well-known music/comedy artists.
Features talented contemporary urban poets, plus well-known musicians and comedians, and highlights their original material and powerful performances in an unedited, uncensored and definitely unparalleled setting.
The showcase for spoken word is back with another jam-packed series of words and wisdom. Features talented contemporary urban poets, plus well-known musicians and comedians, and highlights their original material and powerful performances in an unedited, uncensored and definitely unparalleled setting.
King T'Challa returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as new leader. However, T'Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from divisions within his own country. When two enemies conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must join forces with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Wakandan Special Forces, to prevent Wakanda from being drawn into a world war.
Lila, a grieving mother whose son was killed in a drive-by shooting, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who has also lost her daughter to street violence. When the police prove incapable of bringing those responsible to justice, Lila and Eve team up as vigilantes and take matters into their own hands.
Traces the course of a single day on a block in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. It's the hottest day of the year, a scorching 24-hour period that will change the lives of its residents forever.
"The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the first feature length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. Featuring Kathleen Cleaver, Elaine Brown, Emory Douglas, Jamal Joseph, and many others, it's an essential history and a vibrant chronicle of this pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America."--Container.
"In the hot and deadly summer of 1964, the nation could not turn away from Mississippi. Over 10 memorable weeks known as Freedom Summer, more than 700 student volunteers joined with organizers and local African Americans in a historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in one of the nation's most segregated states ... even in the face of intimidation, physical violence, and death"--Container.
When four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there's enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush.
A young black man struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. "A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. At once a vital portrait of contemporary African-American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship, and love, Moonlight is a groundbreaking piece of cinema that reverberates with deep compassion and universal truths. Anchored by extraordinary performances from a tremendous ensemble cast, Barry Jenkins's staggering, singular vision is profoundly moving in its portrayal of the moments, people, and unknowable forces that shape our lives and make us who we are"--A24films.com.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historical struggle to secure voting rights for all people. A dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated with an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1964. "The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay's "Selma" tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history."--Written by Miss W J Mcdermott on IMDb.com.
Keita chronicles the rise and fall of Zalika Souley, once the legendary bad girl of African cinema, and now living in poverty in the capital of Niger. This film is also a treasure of archival images which reveal the little known story of the birth of African cinema in 1960s Niger, when a cottage industry of Westerns, detective films and thrillers delighted audiences.
"A documentary on representations of Black masculinity in comic books; a popular culture genre which existed before television and whose reach extends into other areas of cultural production such as movies and animated TV series. In a serious, lively and humorous manner, the film examines the degree to which some of the first Black superheroes generally adhered to and were burdened by stereotypes about Black men. However, we also witness how some images shifted--oftentimes clumsily--to reflect the changing times. Featured commentary by scholars and cultural critics, producers, writers and artists provides tools for critiquing all media as they introduce and analyze the leading Black comic book superheroes of the late 60s to late 70s including Black Panther, the Falcon, John Stewart (the Green Lantern), Luke Cage and Black Lightning."--Container.
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